Milk delivery box



April 5,' 1938- J. A. HOPWOOD I MILK-DELIVERY BOX Filed Sept. 18, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. John A. Hopwood Patented Apr. 5, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MILK DELIVERY BOX John A. Hopwood, Great Neck, N. Y.

Application September 18, 1936, Serial No. 101,391

3 Claims.

This invention relates to delivery boxes and is intended for use in the retail delivery of bottled milk.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a simple, light and strong construction, adapted to be made of wood, with the interior compartment portions, in particular, so reinforced as to impart strength with minimum weight.

Boxes of the character under consideration are generally provided with wooden partitions which divide the interior of the box into compartments for the individual bottles. These partitions frequently comprise upper and lower partition bars which respectively support the upper portions of the bottles adjacent their necks, and the lower portions of the bottles at their bases.

One object of the invention is to so constitute the upper partition bars that they will form part of one complete, horizontal course of a slat box, and as such may be assembled in proper relation prior to the formation of the rest of the box, and thereafter incorporated into, as a unit. This arrangement materially facilitates manufacturing, lowers the production costs, and expedites assembly of the box parts.

It has heretofore been common to make upper partition bars, in boxes of the character stated, relatively deep and heavy, these bars being not uncommonly as deep as 1 /2 inches to 2 inches in thickness. This makes for a heavy box. According to the present invention,- the bars may be made but a fraction of the former thickness and still properly support the bottles in upright position, and in spaced relation to one another, said bars being in turn supported and reinforced by dowels positioned between the upper bars and the lower supports of the bottles, and serving not only to vertically reinforce the upper partition bars, but also to coact with the lateral faces of the bottles in such a way as to preclude contact between laterally adjacent bottles at the bottom of the box. By positioning the dowels as stated, two important functions are thereby accomplished through the employment of a construction which does not materially add to the cost of the box, and which makes it possible to materially reduce the weight of the box.

The present invention also embodies a novel construction for joining the supporting bars to the ends of the box in an unusually strong and durable manner, through the formation of the bars in such a way that they will cooperate with a metal binding at the bottom of the end walls,

to lock the end walls to said bars independently of the stay rods frequently employed, and without necessitating the use of nails or screws commonly used in this connection.

Features of the invention, other than those g adverted to, will be apparentfrom the hereinafter detailed description and claims when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one practical embodiment of the invention, but the 10 construction therein shown is to be understood as illustrative, only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

Figure l is a transverse section perspective showing one end portion of a box embodying the {15 present invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary section perspective taken through the bottomend slat and one of the bottom supporting bars showing the method of tattachment of the supporting bar to the end r2 sla s.

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure-2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective showing the end of one of the supporting bars, tenoned Q and kerfed to cooperate with the mortise of the associated end slat and cooperating metal runner.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a horizontal upper partition course of the slat box shown in Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a section on the line 66 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a cross section of the box shown in Figure 1.

Figure 8 is a perspective view showing a modi- 35 'fied form of dowel or strut which I may employ.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of a damping and reinforcing member associated with certain longitudinal and transverse rods of the box of Figure l.

The box of the present invention, as shown in the accompanying drawings, comprises four walls arranged in rectangular relation, and each composed of superimposed slats, so that, in effect, the box is made up of a plurality of rectangular slat frames superimposed upon one another.

The box shown in. the drawings, embodies four of such frames designated, respectively, I, 2, 3 and 4. The slats at the top frame I are made some- .what thicker than the slats of the frames 2 and 3, so as to give added strength at the top of the box, while the slats of the bottom frame 4 are made even thicker and are rabbeted out, as indicated at 5, to provide an inwardly extending flange or seat 6 near the bottom of the box, and on which bottles are adapted to rest.

Across the bottom of the box, and spaced about equidistantly from one another and from the bottom and side slats, are supporting bars 1 which cooperate with the seats 5 to support the weight of the bottles in the box. These supporting bars, according to prior practice, are commonly butted against the bottom end slats and nails or screws are driven through the end slats into the ends of these bottom bars. According to the present invention, however, the end slats are mortised out, as shown at 8 in Figures 2 and 3, to receive the ends of said slats, which are tenoned, as shown best in Figures 2, 3 and 4, to cooperate with these mortises and with a runner or metallic armor 9, shown in Figures 2 and 3. The runner or metallic armor is of channeled cross section and is fitted over the lower edges of the bottom end slats, and is cut away for a portion of the height of the channel, as shown at H) in Figures 2 and 3. The out is shallow enough to leave a reduced portion of the lateral wall of the channel extending across the inner end of the mortise 8. Tenon H at the end of each supporting bar I is made of such size that it will fill the mortise 8, and is kerfed or channeled, as shown at l2, to receive the reduced portion of the flange of the runner, while the body of the supporting bar extends below the bottom of the tenon for about the thickness of the runner, so that the lower face of each supporting bar 7 is substantially flush with the bottom face of the runner.

In assembling these parts, the tenons of the several supporting bars are positioned in the mortises ID of the bottom end slats. The runners 9 are thereupon positioned over the lower edges of the end slats, and bolts or rivets i3 are thereupon passed upwardly through the runners, tenons and slats and the upper ends of said rivets either headed over or bent over, as at 14, against the upper face of the bottom end slats, so as to secure the runners in place and simultaneously lock the supporting bars 1 to the end slats. Inasmuch as the reduced portion of the runner flanges extends into the kerfs 12, the supporting bar "I thus acts as a positive tie between the bottom slats at the opposite ends of the box, and ties these parts tightly together, while allowing sufficient give or weave so necessary in. a slat box of this kind. The end slats may also be tied together by longitudinal tie rods l5 and these serve also to support the weight of the bottles and impart added strength to the construction.

Positioned between the frames 2 and 3 is an interposed horizontal frame l5 made of relatively thin stock. This frame consists of longitudinal side bars I! and transverse end bars I8 and extending between the end bars and in spaced relation to the side bars are partition bars IS. The end bars l8 are notched at their ends at 20 to receive the ends of the partition bars H! which are secured in place by nails 22 driven through the end bars into the ends of the partition bars 19. The opposite sides of the partition bars are provided with curved recesses 23 spaced longitudinally of said bars and juxtaposed at opposite sides thereof to fit around and embrace the adjacent sides of bottles positioned within the box, for the purpose of spacing said bottles apart. The inner edges of the side bars I! are similarly recessed, as shown at 24, to engage with and embrace the sides of the adjacent bottles. Tie rods 25 extend horizontally through the several bars of this frame in succession and are headed over, as

shown at 26, to secure the parts together. The heads of the tie rods are preferably countersunk or let into the side bars l6, as shown best in Figure 1, so as to leave a flush outer face. With this construction, it is possible to completely assemble the frame l6 at the bench and secure it together with the nails 22 and the tie rods 25 and then incorporate the same as a unit into a box in the process of assembly.

The bottom frame 4 may be assembled in like manner, being secured together by the runners 9, supporting bars 1, rivets l3, and transverse tie rods 21, so that it is possible, by the construction described, to assemble both the frames l6 and 4 at the bench and then bring these parts into proper cooperation with intermediate and upper frames in the assembly of the box. This greatly facilitates manufacturing, speeds up production and simplifies assembling operations.

It will be noted that the ends of the supporting bars I!) are supported in the end bars l8. Thetie rods 25 also furnish some support for the partition bars l9 intermediate the ends of the latter. However, when these supporting bars are made as thin as shown, they should be otherwise additionally supported along their length, so as to withstand the rough usage to which boxes of this kind are subjected. Consequently I incorporate in the structure vertical struts 28 which may conveniently be in the form of dowel rods which extend between the supporting bars I at the bottom of the box and the partition bars 19. These struts are positioned at the narrowest parts of the partition bars, i. e., between the deepest parts of the recesses 23. They are let into both of the bars I!) and l by boring holes into these bars to receive the opposite ends of the dowels, as shown best in Figure l. The dowels thus serve as struts vertically reinforcing the partition bars against downward breaking strains, as well as the supporting bars 1 against upward breaking strains and, inasmuch as they are positioned between the deepest parts of the recesses 23, they also act as partitions between transversely adjacent bottles. In other words, one of the dowel rods 28 will be between each two laterally adjacent bottles, as shown best in Figure 7, so that it is absolutely impossible for these bottles to strike one another, even though there is no partition rod or bar between the bottoms of such bottles.

The dowels thus perform a dual function in a simple, efficient and economical way. In practice, these dowels may be made quite small and practical boxes have been produced wherein onequarter inch wooden dowels have been found to provide adequate strength and properly space the bottles.

The box may be secured together at its four corners to maintain the superimposed frames in proper relation by any appropriate means, such as corner irons, tie rods, bolts, screws or the like, or a combination thereof, as will be well understood by those skilled in the art, the present invention being not restricted to the particular corner attachments on the box.

In Figures 1, 2, 3 and '7 of the drawings, the dowels 28 are shown as of uniform diameter throughout their length although, if desired, these dowels may be made as shown in Figure 8 of a greater diameter throughout the greater portion of their length with their upper ends reduced to fit into the holes in the reduced sections of the upper partition bars. The lower ends may be also reduced, but it is not necessary to do so as there is plenty of width inthe lower partition bars and the boring of a larger hole will not unduly weaken the bars. With the reduced sections of the upper bears, however, the boring of a hole equal to the large diameter of the dowel would naturally weaken these bars and hence a small hole is bored to receive the reduced ends of the dowels while materially increased diameter is provided to take the longitudinal thrust or stress to which these dowels may be subjected as well as the lateral stresses which may be imposed thereon by the bottles.

I have found that in some boxes having rods extending longitudinally and transverselyacross the box without attachment intermediate their ends that there is a tendency of the rods to ring when struck by an empty bottle and inasmuch as a quiet box is desired, I overcome this objection by associating with the lower rods l5 and 21 damping and reinforcing members, such as illustrated in Figure 9. These members 29 are formed from sheet metal with coils 30 and 3| at their opposite ends and the strip from which they are formed is given a quarter twist intermediate its ends, so that the rods l5 may be passed through the coils 3|, while the rods 21 may be passed through the coils 30 with a close sliding fit. With this arrangement said members may be formed completely before assembly of the box and the rods simply slipped through them during the assembly operation. The fit is close enough so that rattling will not result and I have found that these members will have effectual damping action which will satisfactorily dampen vibration which would cause ringing of the rods. Furthermore they will reinforce both rods one against the other against shocks which may be received by either of them. They will serve to hold the rods [5 below the upper edge of the supporting bars 1, so that these rods are not struck by the bottles when they are deposited in the box and which engagement would be very apt to cause undesirable noise or the ringing to which I have referred. At the same time the members 29 will dampen the rods 21 against undesirable vibration of any kind.

Furthermore inasmuch as the coils 30 have a close fit with the respective rods, any tendency of either rod to move laterally will cause a binding of the coils with the other rods and this binding will lock the members against longitudinal shifting on the latter rods. As a result the members will also reinforce the rods against sidewise movement and thus maintain the transverse partition rods 21 at proper spacing to one another, so as to leave the proper spaces for the bottles in the respective compartments. They are economical to manufacture, easy to assemble and do not interfere with the dismantling of the box for replacements when desired.

An extremely light box may be made according to this invention and yet will possess all the necessary strength required in a box of this kind. It will have sufficient give to take up the stresses to which these boxes are usually subjected and yet will be sufficiently rigid to properly hold its shape. It will require no longitudinal metal tie rods and no longitudinally extending lower partitions of any kind as the struts perform this latter function.

The foregoing detailed description sets forth the invention in its preferred practical form and the invention is to be understood as fully commensurate with the appended claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A box comprising side and end walls, the latter of which are provided at their bottom edges with similarly positioned mortises, supporting bars extending longitudinally of the box into said mortises and keried at their under sides in substantially the vertical planes of the inner faces of the end walls, and metal channels housing the lower edges of the end walls with the inner flanges of said channels extending into the kerfs of the supporting bars.

2. A box comp-rising side and end walls, the

latter of which are provided at their bottom edges with similarly positioned mortises, supporting bars extending longitudinally of the box and pro- I vided at their ends with tenons extending into the mortises, the under sides of the bars being transversely kerfed in substantially the plane of the inner faces of the end walls, and metallic channels of U-shaped cross section embracing the lower edges of the end walls with the inner flanges of the channels extending through said kerfs.

3. A box comprising side and end walls, composed of superimposed slats, the latter of which are provided at their bottom edges with similarly positioned mortises, supporting bars extending longitudinally of the box into said mortises and kerfed at their under sides in substantially the vertical planes of the inner faces of the end walls. metal channels housing the lower edges of the end walls with the inner flanges of said channels extending into the kerfs of the supporting bars, and rivets extending through the metal channels, through those portions of the supporting bars which extend into the mortises and through the bottom slat.

JOHN A. HOPWOOD. 

